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Teaching middle schoolers how to live and practice their faith

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A quick note at the beginning of this post- for my teaching of the 10 Commandments, I am following the list from Exodus Chapter 20 that the Catholic Church uses. Because the Catholic list includes not making a graven image as part of the 1st Commandment, the lists are slightly different and the numbering is off. Our list separates coveting a neighbor’s wife and goods, so there are still 10. So if you follow the other equally good list of commandments, these ideas would best fit the 3rd Commandment.

So we started our study of the 2nd Commandment the same way as we did the 1st: by writing the commandment at the top of a T-chart: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Then, using common sense and The Catechism of the Catholic Church we filled in our charts with ways to keep and break the commandment.

In a much more abbreviated and student friendly version of the task, students used the 2nd commandment reflection and art page to help them determine the name of God that most spoke to them. Then, we figured the best way to venerate the name of the Lord would be to make art celebrating the name. The students blew me away with their art and creativity. We also spent some time the next day in the adoration chapel at church and prayed writing prayers using those names for God. A few of the students told me it was one of the more meaningful assignments they had done in religion, which made me really happy.

Enjoy some student artwork, pictured below.

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